By Efetobor Utedjor
The Ijaw Nation Development Group has warned politicians and their followers against using Ijaw areas as election battlegrounds in their effort to realize their political dreams ahead of the 2023 general election.
As soon as he arrived from an assignment in Abuja over the weekend, Benjamin Nanaghan, the INDG’s president, spoke with reporters at the Bayelsa International Airport and issued the warning.
Ijaw villages and Ijaw people have historically been subjected to political mayhem brought on by desperate politicians running for office.
“We say that enough is enough when it comes to politicians that are in need of votes who violate morality and drown in the blood of Ijaw people.
Nanaghan pleaded on political parties and actors to abstain from political violence and maintain calm as the countdown to the upcoming elections intensifies.
The INDG leader did, however, congratulate Ijaw candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives, and governorship who won their respective political parties’ primary elections in the Niger Delta.
He was especially pleased to see riverine governorship candidates arise in Rivers State for the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Accord Party, among others.
Nanaghan praised the parties, political figures, good citizens, and government of Rivers State for their important selection of distinguished Ijaw sons as party flagbearers for the general election of next year.
He also expressed trust in the flagbearers’ capacity and aptitude to lead the state successfully if any of them were elected governor.
He claimed that the process leading to their birth was mostly free of hatred and violence, which had previously been the regrettable situation in years past.
He praised the elected officials who lost the election for participating in the exercise.
